World Golf Tour

Pettersen playing Westwood-ish among women

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Suzann Pettersen’s runner-up finish at the U.S. Women’s Open two weeks ago was her fourth second-place finish this season.

Over the last two-and-a-half seasons, she’s claimed one victory and 10 second-place finishes.

“She’s a little bit like Lee Westwood among the women,” David Leadbetter, her swing coach, said by telephone Wednesday on his way to the Evian Masters.

Pettersen is 1-up on Westwood with a major championship title, the ’07 LPGA Championship, to her credit. That came as part of her blistering run of five LPGA titles that season. Since then, Pettersen’s been hovering on the verge of dominance with one victory and all those close calls. She's been runner-up in four major championships since '07.

With a victory this week at Evian, Pettersen can become the fifth player to reach No. 1 in the Rolex Women's World Golf Ranking this year.

“She really wants that No. 1 ranking,” Leadbetter said.

Pettersen's No. 3 in the world. Ai Miyazato regained the No. 1 ranking this week from Cristie Kerr, who dropped to No. 2 by ten thousandths of a decimal point. Kerr, Pettersen and No. 4 Jiyai Shin can all move to No. 1 with victories this week.

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Mell, a senior writer, is a 30-year veteran and covers the PGA and LPGA tours for Golf Channel.